License plate apparatus



May 23, 1950 o. s. GROPPER 2,508,671

LICENSE PLATE APPARATUS Filed Feb. 19, 1947 INVENTOR dfla 5. (Ira 414a BY M ATTORNEYS Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED OFF-l CE asoasrr EIGENSE PIiA'lE APPARATUS" Otte-fifirnpper, Woodsida. ApplicatlonFebruary 19, 1947", Serial-No; 729,448"

(cure-deal SGlaima. 11

This invention relates. teia. license platezapr paratus for vehicles: and. inparticular motor cars; Its-object to prcvide-al'license.platezpem manently afiixed; to: the body ofs thez vehiclea-but provided with as small: insetz tag which can;- be changedi'easily. from: year to. year or whenever occasion, arises; A. further.- object:. is. to: pmvide a license. plate with. a detachable auxiliary'plate wherein. both: the main: plate and theaanxiliary plate are secured against arr. unauthorized with:-

drarwal wherein the-securing 'meansrof the auxiliary plate. ares easily accessible. and. convene lent. to manipulate. A still finance-object a license plate apparatus embodying the-aforementioned features of a. main plateiandia d3? tachable auxiliary plate wherein. the: apparatus forms a composite; unit which is. quicklyasseme bred withthebodyof the vehicle.

Further objects will? appearwfronr the. follow- .ingdescriptionortheinvention when read in the light of accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 shows a side-view of license plate apparatus. after attachment" to the; body of an automobile, the body being partlyzbrokem away for purposes of. illustration;

Fig. 2 is a front illustration of the apparatus showing the auxiliary platemoved into position;

Fig; 3 is a; vertical-section through theapparatus' onlines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4" is a horizontal section along lines fi -l' crFig"; 2

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the apparatus in perspective and partly broken away.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the reference character I indicates the body of a car which is provided with the usual trunk compartment 2. A handle 3 serves to open the compartment and also contains a lock mechanism of the conventional type. The trunk compartment is formed with an aperture 4 at the face that constitutes the rear of the vehicle. The main body or permanent part of the license plate consists of a fiat member which circumferentially has a size somewhat larger than the opening 4 whereby a peripheral seating portion 6 is formed. The portion 6 may be apertured, as indicated at l, for the reception of locking means like rivets or screws 8. As appears from the drawings, the shape of the plate is curved so as to conform to the outlines of the vehicle body. A box-like structure 9 is provided at the rear of the plate which, as shown in Fig. 3, may be formed in one piece with the plate.

In order to make the license number or other indicia visible, the plate 5 comprises an opaque portion: It? cut. out? portions? .H; which latter. portions. ares..formed from: translucent material; Suitably, the entire plate is made of a, plastic material and, if required, a coloredb -ck p (not shownbmay be employed; at its: rear face. The: previously referred; to box 9 constitutes. the supporting: member: for" a source of light, shown asvan electric;--bulb.= I13. in the drawings. It will be understood; that; the;.visibi-1ity: of the: indicia be obtained; also r in. other ways: as;v for instance; by'reyers-ingtthecontrast; effect. andimaleing the -main-:jpor.tion:-. of? the plate translucent: and the indici'az-carryi-nga areas opaquea 'Ifhe; main" plate 5 also; has: an; aperture [4:- of

preferably rectangular shape, Encircling; this aperture. atthe rear. face of the? plate is: arrangulaer-retainingrflange t5. Which-,in: the? embodiment shown, iszfiormed integrally withthe main plate-L and; the? box-like structure. The-retaining flange surrounds? the aperture Ht at. three: sides and thusacts a. slotted memberopen at one ofi-its: vertical sidea.

The lateral wall: of; the box structure which. is adjacent. the said open portion. oi the retaining irame carries; a: door or other-closure member lilhw-hich issecured by" a hinge t]; to: the: box: and face plate. The; door i'sr.-prouided-. with. a. lock mechanism ta and-.bymeans;- of: the: tongue. Hi, can; be lockedciosingrpositiom. As; seem in dottedllinesinal figs. 2:and 5",, the lock mechanism can. be. a: conventional; cylinder -lock inserted through the door l6. Also, as seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, the tongue l9 protrudes upward and outward from the cylinder lock I8 to pass through and engages the top wall 2| of the box 9. The tongue I9 is locked by turning a key 22, shown in Fig. 2, in the cylinder lock l8.

From the description so far given, it will be apparent that an auxiliary plate 20 can be introduced after opening of the door l6 into the slot frame so as to cover the aperture M of the main plate from the rear. In this manner additional indicia like, for instance, the year for which the license tax has been paid and, if desired, a specific State can detachably be incorporated in the license plate. Illumination for visibility of the indici-a appearing on the auxiliary plate can be obtained in the same way as in case of the main plate. It will also be apparent that after looking of the door IS, the auxiliary plate is secured against removing. As shown in Fig. 2, the door l5 when closed, abuts the ends of the flange I 5 to thereby prevent any displacement of the auxiliary plate 20 during operation of the vehicle. The composite body of the main and auxiliary plate and illuminating device can thus easily be assembled and attached to or removed from the body of the vehicle.

Suitably, the attachment means provided by the apertures I and rivets or screws 8 will be arranged in a manner that they cannot be tampered with from the outside. Furthermore, because of the securement of the entire license plate apparatus within the confines of the trunk compartment, the locking of said compartment provides another efiective protection against interference with the device. The auxiliary license i tively translucent portions to display license plate lndicia, the outer surface of said major wall being in excess of that of said opening in said vehicle body, a source of illumination disposed in said box-like structure and to the rear of said major wall, means to secure said major wall exteriorly to said vehicle body with the said boxlike structure introduced through said opening, an aperture in said major wall, slot forming means encircling the latter aperture interiorly of said wall, said slot-formin means being interrupted to provide an entrance opening, said boxplate, therefore, is protected against withdrawal by the lock mechanism l8, I9 and the entire apparatus, including the auxiliary plate, is additionally secured by the trunk compartment lock 3 and the non-detachable securement of the main plate to the vehicle.

Obviously, modifications of the apparatus are possible without departing from the essential spirit of the invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited otherwise than by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A vehicle comprising a compartment disposed at its rear, lock means for the said compartment, an opening in the rear face of said compartment, a license plate adapted outwardly to cover said opening, means to secure said plate exteriorly to the portions of said compartment adjacent said opening, a box-like structure supported rearwardly by said license plate and adapted for introduction into said opening, a light source disposed in said box-like structure, an aperture in said license plate, slot-forming means surrounding said aperture at the inside of said license plate but for an intermediate gap, an opening in said box-like structure for access to said slot-forming means, a closure member hinged to the said box-like structure for optionally closing the latter opening said closure member, when in closed position, extending across said intermediate gap to close the same, locking means for said closure member, and a selectively translucent auxiliary plate adapted to be introduced into said slot-forming means through said gap after opening of said closure member.

2. A license plate apparatus comprising a boxlike structure adapted to be introduced into an opening of the vehicle body, the said box-like structure having a major wall including seleclike structure having an opening in registry with said entrance opening, an auxiliary plate adapted to he slid through the entrance opening into said slot-forming means so as to cover the aperture in said major wall, and a closure member hinged to said box-like structure for closing the opening therein, said closure member extending across the said entrance opening to complete the enclosure of said auxiliary plate.

3. A vehicular license plate, comprising an open-ended channel-like frame for introduction into an opening in the wall of a vehicle body, said frame having a cover plate overlapping the edge of said wall opening, said plate having lightpermeable portions displaying license plate indicia; a groove-providing flange disposed on the inner face of said plate and defining three sides of an opening formed in said plate, the fourth side facing an open end of said channel frame; an auxiliary license plate slidable into said flange structure from the open end thereof to provide a closure for said 'plate opening; a wall member hingedly mounted Within said frame relative to the open end of said flange structure to provide a closure for the open end thereof; means for securing said member in closed position; and means for illuminating the interior of said frame.

' OTTO S. GROPPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,977,261 Brown Oct. 16, 1934 2,025,952 Levet Dec. 31-, 1935 2,104,539 Hacker Jan. 4, 1938 2,156,806 Ducey May 2, 1939 

